Bathroom Reno Sneak Peek

I think I've teased you long enough. Honestly, I was hoping it would be done by now. So close though.

Let's remember what we started with, shall we. First reaction, no way. Second thought, hmm this could be fun. Here's my first post with our ideas.

We decided we'd take care of the painting ourselves. What were we thinking? Kidding, sort of. But I've taken on this task and I warn you, it is tedious.

The timeline so far:

• Fill all one thousand plus nail holes with wood filler, let dry
• Sand, sand, and sand some more. And wear a mask because it sure gets dusty. 
• Prime
• Find a few nail holes you missed while getting ready for bed, fill those
• Sand the trim and walls again with a high grit sand paper. I love the sand paper blocks.
• Prime again (on a Friday night).
• Paint the ceiling the following morning
• Second coat on the ceiling
• Prime the top half of the walls
• Take a break and enjoy life
• Wake up Sunday, sand again.
• Paint the board and batten (first coat)

Phew, it's been a lot of work. I have to sand once more and add one more coat of paint on the board and batten. We went with Pure White (Sherwin Williams) in an eggshell finish. I realized last week that if I used the trim paint we've been using in other rooms, the entire lower half of the wall would just be way too shiny. So back to the store we went - Sherwin Williams is running a paint and painting supply sale through October 31st so we took advantage of that. Also - in a bathroom, make sure to choose a paint that resists mold and mildew well.

Then comes the fun part, picking out the color for the top half of the walls!  I threw a few samples we already owned up on the walls - Chelsea Gray (Benjamin Moore) on the left, Greyish (Sherwin Williams) on the right. And have decided ones too dark while the other's too light. But I can't say we don't like the idea of something on the darker side...what do you think?

This project has certainly been a dream (and a major headache at times for sure). I never thought I'd have the opportunity to design my own bathroom this early into owning a home. I didn't think I'd be doing any major renovations just yet! But that's the path we've chosen, and I have learned so much from it. The house just needs a little TLC! ;) The final stages of the bathroom renovation take place this week - installing the shower glass. Then we will be able to finish the room. And I'll share the rest of the details and fixtures then. 

Stay tuned!

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Number Cruncher

Yes, that's me. I spend my weekdays doing accounting work for a private company and my nights and weekends crunching numbers for our household. It's not a chore to me, it's what I like to do.

I've contemplated putting together a post on the time value of money. What is that? It's what the pros use to calculate any loan you might have - mortgage, car loan, etc. It's the amortization schedule of payments - principal and interest - they show you. And it is an incredibly helpful tool to know how to use. I'd be lying if I said it was super complex. If you have any interest in a post like this please let me know. I would be thrilled to throw a little number knowledge at ya! Nerd alert.

Anyways, I'm getting sidetracked. And I have one more sidenote before I get to the meat of this post. I happened to catch this opinion post on CNN and just had to share it. My favorite quote from it being,

"Competence, meanwhile belongs to the women, particularly in the usually macho world of global finance. Over in Europe, Merkel was re-elected on the basis of her deft handling of the eurozone crisis, and in the United States, monetary policy was entrusted to [Janet] Yellen. Making the victory extra sweet for women, she was chosen instead of Lawrence Summers, who will forever be remembered for saying women aren't that good at math."

Oh yes. We aren't very good at math at all. Let me ask you a question, Beyonce. Who runs the world? Girls.

So, back to regularly scheduled post. While getting rooms painted and furnished is really important, sometimes it's the little projects that make our new house feel more like a home. Pictures definitely do this. I've mentioned these Etsy pictures before. It all started with the artichoke, I had to have it in my house.

I knew I wanted to hang all four pictures in a row, evenly spaced apart. What does that require? Math! This was not a gallery wall I could wing, unlike the bedroom one I put together the weekend before. This was in a high traffic area and needed to be perfect.

I started by measuring the length of the bar unit the frames would be hung above (which was actually 71.5 inches), as well as the distance to the crown molding. Then, I measured the frames, which were 13x16. Four 13" frames would take up 52 inches. My original calculation above gave 5 inches between the frames but I decided that was too much and went with 4 inches instead. The outside frames were hung 3.75 inches in from the edges of the Besta (IKEA) unit and voila, 4 level, evenly spread out frames. (Don't be fooled, there are a few extra nail holes behind a couple of the frames...)

Next up in crunching numbers over here, finding the best deal. We were down to two rooms that still needed rugs, the dining room and living room. Columbus Day sales meant it was time to rip the bandaid off and finish a few home purchases. I've done my best to browse rug sales almost weekly, hoping I'd find something I love for pennies. If you've researched rugs, you know that they don't come cheap. But knowing what's a good price to pay is definitely valuable knowledge.

I started my living room rug selection not quite sure what direction I wanted to go in. Masculine, with a den feeling? Or light and airy? Well, then I came across this rug, asked Jay what he thought, to which he replied yes (shocked is an understatement), and my decision was made. Especially since we have a white haired pup. Light for the win!

I decided it was worth checking one of my favorite sites for this same rug. I've definitely seen it before and wanted to make sure I paid the best price.

Well Joss & Main had it, but the closest size was more than the Overstock price. That's settled.

And here she is! Not the greatest photo, but it was dark out and the living room needs the most work. And now I have lots of incentive to get things together - thinking cream walls and maybe a navy contrast wall. Maybe? That would be very bold for me but I love the idea of it.

An 8x10 wool rug for less than $300? Now that is a steal!

Where do you check for online home decor deals?

Any site that wants to give me a great price and free shipping is right up my alley. I've spent a fair amount of time on the following sites while attempting to decorate our new home: Overstock, Joss & Main, One Kings Lane, Target, Etsy, Home Depot


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Fall Home Maintenance

This weekend was all about getting things done around the house again. With the bathroom renovation nearly done, the construction crew finally cleaned up and removed the ram board floor protector used to cover our hardwood floors. So you better believe I got those new floors back to their shiny self! There was a lot of sweeping, vacuuming, and steam cleaning around the house this weekend. And a bit of gardening and clean up outside as well. Couldn't have been happier to have a front porch to decorate!

But as we head into the fall months, there are certain maintenance projects we need to do that we can't exactly do ourselves. One room I cannot wait to spend time in this coming winter is our living room. I haven't had a fireplace since we moved when I was in the 5th grade. I envision myself curled up under a blanket, reading or enjoying a hot drink by the fire this winter.

Before we use our fireplace though, it's really important that we have it cleaned. If it's anything like the rest of the home we've taken on, it may not have been deep cleaned for quite some time. So for safety's sake, we've decided to hire the pros (you can't really DIY chimney cleaning/sweeping). I should point out that the more often you use your fireplace, the more often you want to get it cleaned. Ash buildup is no joke - we're talking the possibility of chimney fires and carbon monoxide leaks. Scary stuff.

While this may not be the cheapest home service, it's a necessary one. The average cost in the Boston area could run you about $350, but like I said, it's a necessary maintenance expense. You can read more here.

In order to find a chimney sweeper in the area, I filled out the pre-screened pro service request on Homeadvisor's website. Guys, it was so easy! And possibly even better? There was no initial profile set-up, mandatory registration, or annual fee to use their service. Now that is my kind of website.

After looking through the list of professional's in our area, we chose one we felt confident with and have scheduled our cleaning. While I may not be ready for winter weather yet, I'm excited knowing we'll have a clean, safe fireplace to use.

Zip code and town removed for our personal privacy.

If you're looking for a chimney cleaner in your area, click here. And get this done before the cooler temperatures hit!

Home Maintenance

Do you have a few other maintenance projects you need to get done? Another one on our list is cleaning the gutters and downspouts. There are a lot of leaves out there. Oh, you too? Check out this profile to learn more on what you can expect to pay in the Boston area.

And best of luck to all you homeowners / house renters out there! As we're learning, home maintenance is no joke!

Disclosure: I've teamed up with HomeAdvisor this month as part of their Blog Ambassador Program. Although this post is sponsored by HomeAdvisor, all opinions expressed are my own.

Window Reflections: Looking Back

Although we've been spending our free weekends working on our new home, there are times where we stop and think what the heck did we get done? Because even the littlest projects seem to take time. I love when someone who's seen this home since the beginning stops by and notices how far it has come. Because living in it, sometimes it's hard to remember where we started. Even though we see it everyday, or maybe because.

We spent our Saturday afternoon filling nail holes, priming, and painting the window trim in our master bedroom. A job I've procrastinated for months. And while we were happy to have it done, it seemed kind of menial and routine. In order to feel a bit more satisfied with our work, I looked back at a few photos of where we started. Umm, I kind of forget how bad it was at first. Shall we take a trip down memory lane?

Before

In Progress

Today

Like I said, looking back, part of me cannot believe what a wreck the bedroom we bought was! But I've really loved being able to make all the decisions, as stressful as it can be at times. And I'm so impressed with J's carpentry skills. Seriously. So thankful. Obviously there's still a lot left to do, like finishing the nightstands...but we'll get there. And I'll keep looking back at the before photos for inspiration to keep going. Somedays it's needed.

Wrote this post, signed onto Pinterest, found this quote.....perfect timing?

via Pinterest

How was your weekend? 

Do tell!

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House Updates: A Sneak Peek

I owe you an overall house update but life has been too busy lately. And so therefore, I haven't taken any updated photos yet. Hopefully I can get my act together soon, but for now let's focus on some new details around here.

I have been doing my very best to only buy good deals. But not to buy something just because it's a good deal. It has to be something I love for one hell of a steal. With so many rooms to fill, I need to stretch our dollars as far as possible. Otherwise, we'll only have one finished room and a whole bunch of empty spaces for the next year or two while I save up.

After searching high and low for a shade option for our master bedroom, I went with these. We have 4 windows in our bedroom and they are 3 different sizes. So I had to find something that came in all 3 sizes because I didn't want to pay the higher prices for the cut to size ones. Like I said, deals only. So bamboo shades it was for us. (Plus, this post really swung my decision towards the look of bamboo).

Thank you Autumn for your amazing affordable finds series. I bought this steal of a mirror and also found great prices on curtains for our bedroom. I haven't decided where to hang the mirror yet but either way, Kirklands for the win!

I've given myself a [small] budget to finalize our family room. It's the room that's has been closest to "finished" so I've decided to get 'er done. I will definitely post a before & after and source list but let's just say that Target's Threshold and Nate Berkus lines are a godsend. Here are a few close-ups of the layers I've added to our family room.

I painted our dining room this weekend. And it feels so good to have another room cleanly painted. After many failed samples painted all over the walls I decided to just wing it. I knew the color I was going to go for, now just to find it and get it in the right hue. We have low ceilings here, so I realized when testing out paints that I needed to go lighter than I imagined, and to trust that it would look slightly darker in our space. Have you ever actually sat at the table you find within the paint section? That was me Saturday. I took my time, looked at many colors, reviewed them with a piece of white paper behind them, and eventually made a decision on the spot. Benjamin Moore Soft Fern for the win. Bye bye yellow!

Now I cannot wait to get the kitchen painted.

How was your weekend?

Even though we had no actual plans, we were insanely busy this weekend. And it felt really good. We got our long training run in, the dining room got painted, the lawn is raked clean of moss and seeded, the pool's closed, and some of the front beds are weeded. Our backs are now aching and we're exhausted but it feels great to have gotten so much done.

Happy Monday!

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Bathroom Reno: Hunting Down the Perfect Vanity

Hi friends! How was your weekend? We had a pretty great weekend over here getting things done around the house. There were many things crossed off the to-do list which always feels good, even got a few unexpected things done. But there's one thing that's haunting us. One major to-do item that is causing a whole bunch of gray hairs at the moment. Finding a bathroom vanity.

This bathroom renovation is definitely teaching us a lot. And we are going to be so much better prepared next time we have any major construction planned. Who knew that 60" wasn't the norm for double sink vanities (it's 72"), or that stores don't stock them very often (it's 4 weeks+ production)? Well maybe you did know all that, but we sure didn't. This could basically be a travel post considering the number of miles we put on my car this weekend searching for the perfect bathroom vanity.

Our requirements/wants:

• Two sinks
• Counter height (34")
• Cabinets and drawers (preferably a cabinet under each sink with a drawer under the cabinet, or a shelf within the cabinet for extra storage)
• Not too detailed/intricate wood patterns on the drawer fronts
• Stained (or possibly painted in milk paint so its a matte finish)

Not too much to ask for right? Oh, and one more important thing, we need it asap. We are learning that we could have made a few more decisions (like where we'd order a vanity from) earlier on. And that there are times when things come up and decisions are needed immediately. Ack! Doing my best to roll with it!

So yes, we drove all over Routes 3, 24, 93, 95, and 495 between Saturday and Sunday (if  you're not from the area, just disregard those numbers and note that it was an insane amount of driving!).

And what we learned in our travels:

• There are less than 3 stocked 60" double sink vanities at any one store, and none were our style
• They love placing the gorgeous, custom ordered vanity (12 weeks production, $$$) next to the half the price, 4 week production vanity so that you can REALLY see the difference in quality and REALLY want the custom one out of the price range and time frame.
• The Restoration Hardware outlet is the most amazing place on earth and you should totally check it out. (They had a 72" double sink vanity that I'd been eyeing online for 30% off. Ugh it was gorgeous)
• Don't even bother with IKEA bathroom vanities, unless you want an ultra modern look in which case definitely check them out.
• Take pictures of what you really like - you may be able to find someone local to build it for you (which we almost did - our contractor offered)

Needless to say, we were feeling pretty defeated by Sunday night. I'm sure many of you can relate to the whole champagne taste on a beer budget analogy? It can kinda suck sometimes. I didn't want to choose a vanity just for the hell of it because we needed one, and I really didn't want to spend a fortune on one either. We can't! So while I got dinner together Sunday night, J took to the web for some browsing. And thank goodness for his patience because we may have lucked out! I won't tell you what we ended up with yet (because we still need to order it). But here's a taste of what you can find with some searching....and how they line up to a few Restoration Hardware options that I love. Really, who doesn't love RH?! If they weren't side by side with the differences so obvious, would you be able to tell? I've included 72" options here for comparison (And yes, they all come carrera marble as an option! Just didn't have a picture of it always).

1 /  2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

We've decided that between the gray floors and gray/white walls, we'd like to warm up the space a little with a rustic vanity. Well, at least that's what we're currently envisioning! And while we were originally leaning towards a darker finish, these more natural stains have really caught out eye. Wish us luck, ordering a vanity in the next day or two.

What's your favorite stain or color option for a vanity? Would you ever choose a paint color other than black/white? 

We debated a gray painted vanity at one point but then found ourselves so drawn to something warm and rustic, keeping the space from getting too modern. I also think a colored vanity, like deep blue could look amazing in the right space. 

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Master Bathroom Renovation - the Before, the Details

Today is the start of our big, huge, most expensive project we'll do on this house for a long time, master bathroom renovation! Confession - I'm totally freaking out!!

Yes, I have a million ideas swirling through my head and have a very good sense of what I want, but now it needs to be definite. What we choose cannot be undone. Gah! I can be very indecisive at times, lots of what ifs, so this project is major. It's not just painting the walls and wanting to repaint. No, I cannot change the layout, the tile choice, the vanity options, the fixtures, etc once they're installed. They will be here for good.

Here's what we are working with right now. I was having a hard time visualizing the size of the shower we'll be putting in so I taped off both the size of the standard tub shower, and the size of the larger shower we've decided to go with.

And here's a very simple amateur drawing of the plans... the shower and vanity will run along the same wall

Lastly, here's what we're thinking for tiles...

• 12x24 Dark Grey floor tiles
• 2x2 Dark Grey shower floor tiles
• 8x20 White/Grey shower wall tiles

We've decided to use porcelain for the tiles. All of them. I absolutely love the look of marble, but really didn't want to have to worry about maintaining it, nor was the price tag all that fun to calculate. Thankfully you can find porcelain in a variety of textures and shades these days to imitate the finer stones. I think we had a similar approach in our tile decisions as Lindsey did here. She's much better at explaining it than I am (and so much more experienced than us!).

Originally, I wanted a lighter shower floor which is why there are various smaller tiles on the left side of the picture above. But then I saw this bathroom renovation and changed my mind completely. I loved the cleaner look of using the same floor tile throughout. I realized that the bathroom could look very cramped very easily if I add in too many colors, patterns, textures, etc so we'll keep the tile simple.

I spent some time yesterday walking around The Tile Shop, and while I wasn't super impressed with their selection (honestly, I spent the whole time comparing what they had to what I'd already picked out and couldn't find anything I liked better - huge relief, going with my original selection) I so appreciated the numerous bathrooms you could walk through for inspiration. It really does help to see what your tile selection could potentially look like. Plus, they just might have been the nicest sales persons ever. Here's one I found using similar colors to us...

And another bathroom that caught my eye...

And I'm really liking the dark grey cabinets here...that is the next decision!

And here's one I found which kinda/sorta shows you what it looks like to use the same tile for the bathroom floor and shower floor - just using different sizes.

When you're picking tile for the shower floor, you need to pick a tile that is 2x2 or smaller. This is because the shower floor needs to be pitched towards the drain. It really wouldn't be good to have standing water in your shower, so being able to adjust the pitch of the floor is necessary. And smaller tile works best (bigger tiles would just end up cracking - not good). But the less grout to clean, the better really (in my opinion) so we'll stick with the larger tiles for the bathroom floor and the smaller tiles only within the shower portion. Plus, if you haven't looked at tiles before, I warn you - small tiles can be crazy expensive!

Now that the demo has started, here's what's in the line-up for our bathroom renovation:

• Demo current space - repair ceiling, open up the walls for plumbing and electricity, move current door frame over to make room for a vanity
• Bring in a plumber to fit for pipes - pipes will connect through the guest bathroom (which is through the far wall on in the pictures above). We are purposelly going with this layout so that a) we don't need to pull pipes up through the kitchen ($$$$) and b) there are no pipes along the exterior wall (very risky in the New England winters...)
• Bring in electrician to wire for new lighting, fan/vent system
• Order tiles for bathroom floor, shower floor, shower walls
• Order custom shower glass for interior shower wall, door, pony wall on vanity side
• Order double sink vanity and decide on countertop material
• Order sink and shower fixtures (currently thinking rain shower head like this, and hand held)
• Order a toilet (I'll let J handle that....maybe...)
• Decide on overhead or side lighting around vanity
• Pick out paint color for walls
• Accessorize!

If I'm missing anything major in my list above, well that's why we've hired a contractor for this job. Ha! We've decided to let the pro's handle this bathroom since there is just so much work to do. And J and I plan to tackle a guest bathroom reno later this year since it already has a footprint to follow/upgrade. But this won't happen until our master bathroom is fully functional (and will be the only full bathroom while we reno the guest bathroom). 

I'll keep you posted along the way. I can't believe it's actually/finally happening!

Happy Monday!

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Recent Home Purchases

Today feels so much like Monday to me. J & I spent the weekend in Chicago celebrating a friend's wedding/college reunion and didn't get home until well after midnight Sunday night/Monday morning. So I made the wise decision of taking Monday off from work.

This meant some things got done around our new home! While I sort through all of my Chicago pictures, I thought I'd share some recent purchases. I'm on a roll lately....it's bad. We showed up Sunday night to a few boxes on the front porch, and again Monday afternoon....all we could do was laugh. The mailman definitely hates us already. Whoops.

Here are the most recent purchases I've made. Many purchased just yesterday in our first ever weekday visit to IKEA. And let me tell you, I will never go on a weekend again! It was so calm, parking was a breeze, and there were no lines for checkout. If you can get to IKEA on a weekday and save yourself the weekend chaos, I highly suggest you do!

6.17 Recent Home Purchases by talkative-tlc on Polyvore

These items will be scattered around the house, but we literally need something for every room. I can't even think about pictures, mirrors, accessories yet. Too many big item to decide on first. But even without curtains, etc this place is starting to feel more like a home.

We spent last night putting together the IKEA shoe bin and sideboard (it's similar to the linked one but we built our own with their BESTA line). And it's so nice to look over and see a furnished space rather than a blank wall. We're getting there my friends!

If anyone has a good IKEA hack for our new nightstands, send it my way! These nightstands are just way too good of a deal not to pass up. Here's a recent post with a few ideas I've noted. Now, to find a free weekend to get them done!

Oh, and when I say many boxes on our front steps, I'm talking a few new articles of clothing too....what? I couldn't help it! These sales are insane. I'll be sharing those purchases tomorrow!

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Home Tour - The Befores

At long last, our home tour! I guess I've been nervous to get these photos up....we've got a whole lot of work to do on our new home. And I'm really excited to document the process, but this means we need to start making decisions! And the idea of making to-do lists per room is still a bit overwhelming. And it would make this post a record-breaker in length.

I've been taking pictures as we go, not only for blogging, but because I think it will be so neat to look back in 30 years and see what we were able to accomplish. (And trigger memories of the process).

If we end up having a housewarming party, it'll be fun to have a photo album out showing the work we've been able to do on our home.

I'm warning you now. This post is a lengthy one! So let's get to it. Here's your first tour of our new home. Consider this post the "befores" in every single room....yes, lots to do. So we'll stick to the basics today, and I'll be doing more specific posts with lists of our plans over the next few weeks.

Front Yard

We have our work cutout for us in the yard! I envision myself enjoying coffee or wine out on this little front porch (as mentioned here). But with everything else to take care of, landscaping will be year 2. We'll maintain for now, but I have no plans to make the outdoor space anything great immediately.

Back Yard

Can you see how high the grass was?! It was pretty crazy. J ended up mowing without a bagger the first time because it was filling up way too quickly. Tucker loved it though. He was literally rolling around in the long grass, it was hysterical.

Our biggest projects for the backyard will be refacing the deck and maintaining the pool. But hopefully we can incorporate some of these ideas too.

Kitchen

(listing photos)

The kitchen is the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. And as you can see from these pictures, it's also the exit out to the deck. Like many homes, it's the command zone. Our biggest priority in the kitchen right now is getting bar stools. It's hard to tell from these photos (maybe just to me) but the breakfast bar is massive and can definitely fit more than 3 stools. We're planning to purchase 4 once we find ones we love that won't also break the bank. 

Dining Room

If you stand at the island in the kitchen and look straight ahead, the dining room is in front of you, to the left. And the front door is straight ahead to the right. The dining room was pretty much the landing pad at first. We weren't getting our dining room table right away so there was no reason not to fill this space with boxes as we moved in. 

Then, it became the living room while we cleaned the carpet in the family room.

And today it looks like this:

More details to come but how awesome is this dining room set J found?! We have so many plans for it. And will share details as we go of course!

Family Room

Above is the listing photo, below is how it originally looked when we moved in...

 Crazy, I know. But don't worry, we've made progress since these shots. First, we emptied the space to clean the carpet -

And since then, we've setup a family room with the furniture we own. Sadly, our sectional from the condo doesnt' fit perfectly in this room but we will definitely be making it work for now.

Living Room

Above is the listing photo, below is how we used the space for the first few nights here. 

I cannot thank our moms enough. It was such a long, ridiculously hot day when we moved in. One of those days where you don't realize how exhausted you are until you sit down. The moms were determined to setup our "bedroom" before they left for the night. Do you know how comforting it was to walk in and see this. The night stands and lamps were a nice touch ladies. 

Here's what it looks like today now that we've moved upstairs:

Office

J finally has a home office! For someone who works from home when not out at clients, J has patiently waited for this day. A home office. And funny enough, there's an extra desk for me too! Above is a listing photo and below is a photo I snagged in the morning (J had no idea). 

Guest Rooms

 The top two photos are of what we are calling/furnishing as a guest room. And the bottom two are of our spare room, as we're calling it. My plan is to fill it with workout equipment - yoga mat, light weights - since we've decided to hold off on gym memberships for now. Eventually, it will be a nursery. Eventually as in not in the near future. Calm down. :)

Guest Bath

Have you ever seen a more beautiful bathroom?! Oh my g, we cannot wait to tear this out. It's not even that it's dated, it's that it's grimy! We've cloroxed this sucker and are being patient for now. There are a few major projects before this badboy. One being the deck, and two being the master bathroom. But once those projects are done, we'll be incorporating some of these ideas into this space.

Master Bath

 Oh, you couldn't tell that this is a bathroom? I am actually really excited that we have a clean slate for this project. Just like having new floors installed, it actually makes it easier to be given a blank page. There is no demo to be done. There is no unforeseen circumstances that tend to come up when a bathtub is removed. We've decided to get this bathroom done first so that when we demo the guest bathroom, there is a fully functioning bathroom to use.

Master Bedroom

 

1- The hallway leading into the bedroom. The bedroom door is behind me, my closet is the unfinished door on the left (it's a pocket door!) / 2 - My closet, eee! :) 

 3 - View once you get to the end of the hallway / 4 - view to the left from the end of the hallway, unfinished space on the left is J's closet.

 6 - J's closet / 7 - view from the back corner of the room

8 - view from the bedroom looking down the hallway

Although we've started making this house our home already, I wanted to make sure you saw what we started with. I didn't lie when I said we have our work cut out for us. Which paint do you think we chose in the photo above? Left or right?

Any advice you can give on finishing spaces?? Like I mentioned above, it is a bit overwhelming. And expensive! I'm doing my best to look for deals and only splurge on things we really want and are timeless (like hardwood floors). So you may see a few Ikea hacks over here! And I welcome any and all advice from those of you who've already gone through this process. 

If you like this post please let me know by leaving a comment or liking my Facebook page. You can also follow along on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Let's stay in touch!